Taxi Time

Any of you who have spent any length of time in a big city in Africa will know that the group of people who do more than anyone else to keep the place running are the drivers of the minibuses and collective taxis, without whom large chunks of the population would never get to work.

Here are some tributes to those undervalued African heroes. I was going to call them unsung heroes but as they are getting sung about that would not strictly be accurate. The songs come from Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, and the last two from South Africa.

"Taxi Driver (I Don't Care)" - Bobby Benson & His Combo

 

"Jo Le Taxi" - Les Garagistes

 

"Take Me Home Taximan" - The Soul Brothers

 

"Taximan" - eVoid

 

 I was at school in Boksburg with Erik Windrich, the lead singer with eVoid, many centuries ago. We were in the school production of HMS Pinafore together. Gilbert & Sullivan don't appear to have been a major influence on his subsequent musical direction. Understandable I suppose, but also a bit of a shame in a way.